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An analysis uniting social theory with Barth's moral theology, emphasising how Christian moral thought is primarily a matter of witness to God's grace.
Christian ethics is less a system of principles, rules, or even virtues, and more of a free and open-ended responsible witness to God's gracious action to be with and for others and the world. Postmodernity has left us with the risky uncertainty of knowing and doing the good. It also leaves us with the global risks of political violence and terrorism, economic globalization and financial crisis, and environmental destruction and global climate change. How should Christians respond to these problems? This book creatively explores how Christian ethics is best understood as a witness to God's action, thereby providing the ethical framework for addressing the various problematic social issues that put our world at risk. Haddorff develops the notion of witness through a detailed study of Karl Barth's theological ethics. Barth, he argues, provides a language enabling us to know what a Christian ethics of witness actually looks like in both theory and in practice. In correspondence to God's gracious action, Christians remain free to think and act in faith, hope, and love in respondence to their unique circumstances, even in a world at risk. In their witness, Christians remain confident that God has not abandoned the world but loves and cares for its future.
Christian ethics is less a system of principles, rules, or even virtues, and more of a free and open-ended responsible witness to God's gracious action to be with and for others and the world. Postmodernity has left us with the risky uncertainty of knowing and doing the good. It also leaves us with the global risks of political violence and terrorism, economic globalization and financial crisis, and environmental destruction and global climate change. How should Christians respond to these problems? This book creatively explores how Christian ethics is best understood as a witness to God's action, thereby providing the ethical framework for addressing the various problematic social issues that put our world at risk. Haddorff develops the notion of witness through a detailed study of Karl Barth's theological ethics. Barth, he argues, provides a language enabling us to know what a Christian ethics of witness actually looks like in both theory and in practice. In correspondence to God's gracious action, Christians remain free to think and act in faith, hope, and love in respondence to their unique circumstances, even in a world at risk. In their witness, Christians remain confident that God has not abandoned the world but loves and cares for its future.
Price: $54.95
Pages: 494
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: James Clarke
Publication Date:
26 May 2011
Trim Size: 9.02 X 5.98 in
ISBN: 9780227173749
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
RELIGION / Christian Theology / Systematic, Christianity, Theology
David Haddorff (...) constructively applies the basic proposals of Barth's ethics to some of the major global problems of the day: globalization, nationalism, militarism, ecological disaster, economic injustice, and so on. (...) The reader should be impressed by the breadth and depth of Haddorff's critical and constructive handling of his primary texts.
— A.J. Cocksworth
...I finally put this book down with a sense of satisfaction and gratitude. It makes serious demands on the reader and is, in every sense, a big project. Ambitious in its scope, wide-ranging in its concerns, unashamedly intellectual yet also pastoral in its concern to integrate theology, ethics and witness in a distinctive and hopeful way in tumultuous times. [...] ... Professor Haddorff has done a fine job here in not only introducing us to the fertile landscape of Barth's ethics but also alerting us to the inconvenient truth that in a world at risk, Christian witness is neither pure not simple...
— Rod Garner
...The volume of material covered in this book is substantial, covering a vast range of sources and commentators and engaging in a huge variety of conversations and controversies. That Haddorff is able to attempt this task, let alone accomplish it with both competent assurance and creative flair, is deeply impressive [...] What Haddorff's work has achieved is to advance the kind of constructive reception of and advance upon Barth's ethics which will undoubtedly sustain further interest in the topic in the seasons ahead. His work is both unceasingly realistic and relentlessly hopeful, and is a welcome addition to the field...
— Paul T. Nimmo, Studies
— A.J. Cocksworth
...I finally put this book down with a sense of satisfaction and gratitude. It makes serious demands on the reader and is, in every sense, a big project. Ambitious in its scope, wide-ranging in its concerns, unashamedly intellectual yet also pastoral in its concern to integrate theology, ethics and witness in a distinctive and hopeful way in tumultuous times. [...] ... Professor Haddorff has done a fine job here in not only introducing us to the fertile landscape of Barth's ethics but also alerting us to the inconvenient truth that in a world at risk, Christian witness is neither pure not simple...
— Rod Garner
...The volume of material covered in this book is substantial, covering a vast range of sources and commentators and engaging in a huge variety of conversations and controversies. That Haddorff is able to attempt this task, let alone accomplish it with both competent assurance and creative flair, is deeply impressive [...] What Haddorff's work has achieved is to advance the kind of constructive reception of and advance upon Barth's ethics which will undoubtedly sustain further interest in the topic in the seasons ahead. His work is both unceasingly realistic and relentlessly hopeful, and is a welcome addition to the field...
— Paul T. Nimmo, Studies
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part One. Ethics and Barth's Witness: Theology and Practice
1. Theological Ethics in Transition
2. Barth's Early Ethics and the Trinitarian Other
3. Barth's Social Ethics: Witness in Tumultuous Times
Part Two. Postmodernity and a World at Risk
4. Social Theory and Postmodernity
5. From Modern to Postmodern Ethics
Part Three. Witness and Barth's Ethics: Toward Contemporary Understanding
6. Witness and the Word of God
7. Witness and Christian Moral Judgment
8. Witness and the Powers
9. Witness and Public Ethics: Options in Christian Ethics
Part Four. Christian Ethics as Witness: Political, Economic, and Environmental
10. Witness and Christian Responsibility
11. Political Witness: For Faith and Peace
12. Economic Witness: For Love and Justice
13. Environmental Witness: For Hope and Freedom
Bibliography
Index
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part One. Ethics and Barth's Witness: Theology and Practice
1. Theological Ethics in Transition
2. Barth's Early Ethics and the Trinitarian Other
3. Barth's Social Ethics: Witness in Tumultuous Times
Part Two. Postmodernity and a World at Risk
4. Social Theory and Postmodernity
5. From Modern to Postmodern Ethics
Part Three. Witness and Barth's Ethics: Toward Contemporary Understanding
6. Witness and the Word of God
7. Witness and Christian Moral Judgment
8. Witness and the Powers
9. Witness and Public Ethics: Options in Christian Ethics
Part Four. Christian Ethics as Witness: Political, Economic, and Environmental
10. Witness and Christian Responsibility
11. Political Witness: For Faith and Peace
12. Economic Witness: For Love and Justice
13. Environmental Witness: For Hope and Freedom
Bibliography
Index